Messing about on the river

In the interest of actually being able to drag myself up a mountain, I thought I'd better do some proper distance walking. My other half diligently got out the OS (previous map reading, when left to me, has not had the desired outcome) and plotted a nice walk along the Basingstoke canal. Since I've had achy joints the last week or so - I wasn't joking when I said in an earlier post that I have the knees of a 90 year old - we thought a canal walk would be sensible since it would be nice and flat and so wouldn't put to much stain on my poor knees (and lately, just for some variety, my ankles).

We parked one car at Odiham and then drove up to Fleet in the second car, with the small, furry beastie on board and off we went. The route was about 10 miles, which would push me and also wear the dog out. It was an absolutely glorious walk. Lovely sun shine, people messing about in canoes on the canal, or having picnics on the grassy verges. There are some stunning properties along side the canal bank and I love a good nose so there was plenty to keep us occupied on our little trek. What a lot of bugs there were though! I'm not really good with flying things. They tend to make me have weird impulse spasms as soon as I hear anything buzzing anywhere near me, especially when they get tangled up in my hair - yeulch!! So there we were, walking along the canal on a beautiful, English spring day with me doing what would look from a distance, like a jumpy, out of time dance as I swot flies and a variety of flying insects away from me. Goodness only knows what I'll be like in Africa - Justine thinks it's hilarious that I'm so rubbish at being out doors, but since her only pre-condition to climbing Kili with me was that I didn't snore (we'll be sharing a tent) she seems to think she can live with some of my more ridiculous qwerks!

There's lots to see along the canal, it was built around the 1790's and has some lovely old bridges over it. The stetch that we walked along has many war defences to stop German tanks during WWII, it would seem that Basingstoke was the place to get to for the 3rd Reich so needed a pill box every 10 feet and lots of dragons teeth (anti tank lumps of concrete to the uninitiated). Further along, past Odiham is King Johns Castle, which is an ancient relic, apparently there are 2 other castles in the area, but I haven't spotted them yet.



We've received lots more donations for the next car boot, which will be next weekend, so hopefully that'll add to our total.

I'm off to put my slightly achy feet up now. I'm not nearly as sore as I thought I was going to be and managed to complete the 10 miles without a total sense of humour failure, which is an improvement for me! The dog, however, is still pooped and refuses to move off the sofa!

MY LEGS HURT!!!!

So, training is going quite well, except for last weekend when I might have accidentally drunk to many glasses of pinot and couldn't face going for a run. This weekend we were back on schedule! 3 mile run on Saturday, 3 mile walk on Sunday followed by another 2 miles to deliver leaflets around the village. I'm feeling quite virtuous, if a little stiff. Luckily, we had some glorious sunshine to walk/run in so it was quite pleasant.

I'm very aware that now our basic level of fitness is up - and by that, I mean I don't think I'm going to die if I run for 3 miles - we really need to start doing some more serious uppy downy type walking. We're going to reattempt Watership Down in a couple of weeks, I wonder if I'll have to notify some sort of rescue agency, given our previous with map reading????

I'm off on holiday at the end of next week (23rd) Icelandic volcanoes permitting, naturally. However, there's a gym in our hotel and I'm planning to take advantage of this and try and get up to 4, maybe 5 miles (perhaps a little optemistic) of running by the time I come back, I figure I can run every other day in the gym, and if I get stiff, well, I'll be in Turkey, so I can go have myself a Turkish bath!!

No such luxuries to be had up a mountain! We sent off our deposits this week so our places are now confirmed, we fly out Feb 24th 2011 (if Iceland are still at it then, I'll be VERY cross!) so it's all become a bit real. We'd like to get up to a respectable 6miles each day on the weekend as we'll have to do similar mileage for 6 days straight on the ascent (up nearly 20,000ft! eek!) so we'll need to build on the good work we've done.

Our first event, a cream tea afternoon on Sunday 2nd May is all organised and folk have been very generous with donations for our bootfairs, for which we will be eternally grateful. Now the ball is rolling, hopefully, some pennies will start coming in!

Hey ho, I'm off to bed to rest up ready for another Monday morning! More pictures to follow next post.

What on earth was I thinking.....

So, over Christmas, my friend Justine mentioned this big trip that she's got planned. She's been talking all summer about climbing Kilimanjaro and has been looking for suitable daft folk to go with her. After a glass of wine or two too many, it sounded like a grand idea and so I was on board.

Then there was the panic first thing in the morning: what on earth had I agreed to??? Which charities would we raise money for? Were we fit enough? Can a slightly indoorsy, rather soft (not to mention squidgy in the wrong places!), 30 something really take on such a big challenge, and wouldn't I rather just have a nice cup of tea and a bit of a sit down??

After a good long think, I've warmed to the idea and we are now in our planning stage. Currently having discussions about charity options and events to run alongside the big, final challenge. We've set ourselves a big target and would love to raise enough to make a difference to our charities. It's been a while since I've done something on an impulse and although my friends and family are questioning my sanity, they are largely supportive - if a bit doubtful of whether or not I really mean it. My mum's adopted that "we'll see" sort of attitude that mothers are so good at, as well as pointing out that I have the knees of a 90 year old - ahhhh, it's good to bask in the glow of familial support and love isn't it?? ;)

First things first though. If I'm going to climb a great, big, ruddy mountain, I ought to get a bit fit and having eaten all of the mince pies in Hampshire over December, Justine and I started in earnest doing a bit of exercise. We walk 6 miles every Sunday, I tend to run 3 miles on Saturdays and as soon as it's lighter in the evenings we'll be walking/running/biking during the week to. So far, I'm not much thinner, but watch this space! If I'm not thin and gorgeous by the end of this, I'll be writing a strongly worded letter so someone!!

See you soon, I'll update when I have something more interesting than knees and running to talk about!